Healthy menu items may sabotage your diet

"We've found that the presence of a healthy item leads people to choose the one that is the least healthy on the menu," [a researcher] tells WebMD. "Just seeing the healthy item and considering it makes you feel you've done your duty. It's crazy, but it's human."

Participants in a study who'd scored high on measures of self-control relating to food avoided french fries and other unhealthy choices when they had only unhealthy items from which to choose. But if a side salad was added to the selection list, even the most disciplined were more likely to take the fries, the researchers say.